Four and Seven

I looked up a lot this afternoon.

I began at the top of the courthouse steps.  You knew I would go there first, right?

The courthouse gardens are grand, by the way.

The fourth finial, on top of the southeast tower, is up!

The finials are beautiful, and they make Moroni look great.

While at the courthouse, I had to check out a couple things.  For now, ignore the man walking in the air.

I had to see if our favorite sign in the east gable was still in place.  Not only is it there, but brick is growing all around it! The arch is a stone bearing the words "Holiness to the Lord."  A cover protects it from possible damage from the surrounding work.

This arch on the west side is in the only gable which survived the fire.

The north gable bears this new, beautiful arch.

Plans for the south gable show an arch which will match the north side.  Notice the new scaffolding.

It's immense, with a bridge at the top allowing workmen to access the steeple base.

The scaffolding includes this handy-dandy red elevator.

Earlier this week I spied a workman via the construction cam using a door to enter the base.

My camera tried to zoom in, but there's not much to see.

A second niche has been completed on the southeast tower.  This makes two here...

Plus three completed niches on the northeast tower equals five.

Five plus the two completed niches on the northwest tower are seven. 

Each tower has four niches.  These two face west and are waiting for their quartzitic sandstone veneer.

All four niches on the southwest tower await completion.

These last two niches are on the southeast tower.

The brick on the south face was easy to see in the bright sun this afternoon.  The dentils at the top of the wall are stunning.  Eighteen inches of brick at the top of the wall are new, all the way around.

Stones above each window are being cleaned and the brick repointed.

This closeup of a niche in the southwest tower shows some of the preparatory work.

This keystone above the doorway in the southwest tower looks like a candidate for a Dutchman repair.

Masons are repairing this area above the south entrance.

The underground garage stretches one full city block, from First South to Second South.

The roof deck is vast and still growing.  Notice the edge of the pavilion on the right.

It was happy to be receiving some attention today.

This view from the cam shows steel beams for the floor which were placed this week.

A thirteen-foot three-tiered fountain will grace the area between the pavilion and the temple.  Men planned its progress this afternoon.

Not much of the garage remains to be covered.

The area around the south driveway is being shored up.

Conduit for utilities has been placed in preparation for another pour.

Part of the south wall, in the center of this photo, was poured this morning.  Second South is on the right.

The entire east wall has now been poured and the pillars are almost complete.

The area between the east barrier wall and the new concrete wall is being filled in.

I saw a lot of work on the west side today.

Forms for the planters continue to grow.

Workmen pulled up plywood which protected the roof deck from the scaffolding which has been removed from the mechanical building.

The brick is complete here, with the sandstone watercourse marking ground level.  You might be concerned about the lighter colored brick on the east.

You are seeing dust from mortar which hasn't been cleaned off yet.

The arch in the west gable will be above a large sealing room.

Openings for these windows were created in April.  Organ pipes used to be on the other side.

These windows for the temple president's office are also new.

Trailers and other facilities for the workmen have been moved off the north lot to the underground areas, giving us some new views of the temple.

Six new vertical posts have been placed in concrete around the north planter.  Four are shown, with two more off to the right of this picture.

Someone will tell us what these are for.

Black waterproof fabric now covers the geofoam.

This has been interesting to watch.

To say the least.

I'm not sure exactly when the building stopped being a tabernacle and started looking like a temple, but it has happened.